I’m Angie Carrillo, a travel and business blogger. I’ve been living abroad for the past decade and I have been fortunate enough to travel to 40+ countries, and I want to share some of the best travel tips that I picked up along the way.

I’ve learned a lot along the way about how to travel sustainably and make it work for you as well.

I am an avid traveler, but also a business owner. I know that many entrepreneurs struggle with balancing their personal lives with their professional lives, so I wanted to share my tips on how to become a digital nomad.

Let’s start by defining what is a digital nomad and why that name makes me cringe.

Digital Nomad? Remote working?

Remote working has opened the possibility of working from anywhere.

While a lot of blogs talk about traveling with a too-good-to-be-true and pyramid-scheme feel to them (“buy my content and I’ll teach you how to escape the rat race”), that’s not what this blog is about. Here, I share my travel tips for free, but also what I don’t like about traveling.

Even if I had the experience of being a true digital nomad (living in different places, working from different places, and time zones). I refuse to call myself a digital nomad because of the association. No, I don’t stay in hostels, or travel with a big backpack. I travel with my suitcase, and nowadays even with my dog.

I prefer luxury-conscious travel for long periods to hopping from place to place. If you prefer immersing yourself in the culture and living as locals do, then we will be pen pals.

Why Locals Hate Digital Nomads

Digital nomads from higher-income locations relocating to work remotely from lower-income locations are disrupting economies. And while for them might be good, for the locals is not so much. Hear me out. You might think: I’m activating the economy. But in reality, digital nomads traveling with a tourist visa and not properly immigrating to another country are not paying taxes. 

Because of their immigration status, long-term rentals are usually not available, because they cannot provide proof of residency. Because of this issue, what digital nomads usually do is pay a premium. Again you might think you are paying and contributing to the local economy but not really. 

So what this does in the local market is that renters prefer renting to foreigners that will pay a premium, while locals stay facing higher prices. That is just one example of the multiple issues this way of traveling can cause issues in the long term and why I prefer not using that title.

Love the World, Not A Bucketlist

Traveling is one of the best ways to learn about the world. I have seen so many things and met so many people that I never would have met otherwise. I hope I share with you my love for this world. But loving this world also means being aware of our carbon footprint and hopping on and off flights causes more harm than good.

While I like luxury travel, I also love adventure travel and conscious traveling.

Solo Traveling as a Woman

As a woman traveling solo I meet other women traveling and share these stories. Stories like the one time I almost got kidnapped, the time I lost my luggage, or the time I accidentally got into the wrong plane. Sharing our stories allows us to learn from each other to not make the same mistakes twice. 

I am not trying to instill fear, on the contrary, I want to push you to do it and be prepared for the best experience in life: traveling solo. Meeting new people and learning their stories and realizing we are more similar no matter where we are born.

Packing Light but Premium

I travel with a carry-on and nowadays with my small dog and her carry, which is slightly smaller than the standard airline carry-on. I pack enough clothes for a week or two weeks. I don’t want to be weighed down with tons of luggage so I keep my clothes simple and lightweight. I always take my skincare and makeup and my laptop. Here I’ll teach you how to pack for trips like a pro and much more.